Description: Site 716 is a continuous sequence (upper Miocene to Holocene) of periplatform oozes and chalks from the Maldives Ridge, Indian Ocean. Mineralogical and geochemical studies of these carbonate sediments indicate that submarine burial diagenesis has played an important role in the induration of sediments at this site. Metastable carbonates, high-magnesium calcite (HMC) and aragonite, convert to low-magnesium calcite (LMC) rapidly, within 1.1 and 6.0 Ma, respectively. Strontium concentrations in carbonate decrease with depth as the result of the burial diagenesis of calcium car- bonate, primarily aragonite, with excess strontium being expelled into pore waters. The formation of celestite at depth indicates that sufficient diagenesis of carbonate sediments has occurred to saturate or supersaturate pore waters with re- spect to this authigenic mineral. Sodium also decreases monotonically with depth as a result of the burial diagenesis of calcium carbonate. Magnesium and carbon and oxygen isotopic curves are remarkably similar. Carbon isotopic compositions record inputs of 13C-enriched components from shallow carbonate banks. Magnesium concentrations vary widely, recording enhanced episodes of cementation by LMC with slightly elevated magnesium contents. Positive shifts in oxygen isotopic composition also record episodes of cementation during burial diagenesis. Intervals with increased accumulation rates of metastable components have undergone more rapid diagenesis than intervals with predominately pelagic deposition.

Description: The strontium isotope ratios of authigenic carbonates from Indian Ocean sea-floor basalts have been used to determine the timing of carbonate mineral precipitation and fluid flow. The samples include calcites from 57.2 Ma crust from Ocean Drilling Project (ODP) Site 715, and calcites, aragonites, and siderites from 63.7 Ma crust from ODP Site 707. At Site 715, calcite precipitation may have begun at any time after the basalts cooled, and it continued until approximately 31 Ma, or 26 m.y. after basalt eruption. At Site 707, aragonite and siderite did not begin to precipitate until about 36 Ma, almost 30 m.y. after basalt eruption, and continued to precipitate until at least 30 and 28 Ma, respectively. Calcite precipitation began at approximately 32 Ma and continued until 22 Ma. These ages suggest that vein mineral deposition and low-temperature fluid circulation in the ocean crust may continue for much longer periods of time than previously observed.

Description: Analyses of the Sr2+ concentrations of interstitial fluids obtained from sediments squeezed during Leg 115 were used to estimate the rates and total amount of recrystallization of biogenic carbonates. The total amount of recrystallization calculated using this method varies from less than 1 % in sediments at Site 706 to more than 40% at Site 709 in sediments of 47 Ma. Five of the sites drilled during Leg 115 (Sites 707 through 711) were drilled in a depth transect within a restricted geographic area so that theoretically they received similar amounts of sediment input. Of these, the maximum rate of recrystallization occurred in the upper 50 m of Site 710 (3812 m). The amount of recrystallization decreased with increasing water depth at Sites 708 (4096 m) and 711 (4428 m), presumably as a result of the fact that most of the reactive calcium carbonate was dissolved before burial. We also observed significant alkalinity deficits at many of these sites, a condition which most likely resulted from the precipitation of calcium carbonate either in the sedimentary column, or during retrieval of the core. Precipitation of CaCO3 as a result of pressure changes during core retrieval was confirmed by the comparison of Ca2+ and alkalinity from water samples obtained using the in-situ sampler and squeezed from the sediments. At Sites 707 and 716, the shallowest sites, no calcium or alkalinity deficits were present. In spite of our estimations of as much as 45% recrystallization at Site 709, all the carbonate sites exhibited what would be previously considered conservative Ca2+/Mg2+ profiles, which varied from -1 to -0.5. By virtue of the position of these sites relative to known basaltic basement or through the actual penetration of basalt (i.e., Sites 706, 707 and 712), these sites are all known to be underlain by basalt. Our results suggest, therefore, that more positive Ca2 + /Mg2+ gradients cannot necessarily be used as indicators of the nature of basement material.